Jury convicts Addison gang member in shooting

September 03, 2010

A DuPage County jury today acquitted a reputed Addison gang member of attempted murder charges but found him guilty of several other crimes for shooting at three rival gang members and injuring two of them.

Michael Bogmenko faces up to 75 years in prison after being convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and unlawful use of a weapon. The jury deliberated over two days.

Bogmenko, 29, of the 500 block of Green Oaks Court, shot at the three unarmed men as they were walking in an alley in his neighborhood because "they were the enemy," DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Steven Knight told the jury earlier this week in his opening arguments. The incident took place about 4 a.m. Aug. 9, 2009.

One of the men was struck in the torso and another in the shoulder, but they recovered after hospitalizations.

Knight said that Bogmenko was arrested the next morning by Addison police, who found the handgun used in the incident under a nearby garbage bin. Bogmenko later made a videotaped confession. Bogmenko contended that the trio was in a neighborhood where members of his gang lived.

Assistant Public Defender Ricky Holman said that Bogmenko felt threatened when he heard gang language coming from the trio and "he was fearful they were coming after him."

Bogmenko remains held in the DuPage County Jail without bond until sentencing later this fall.